This quick guest post from Sara Dierck!

Remember making Christmas tree ornaments out of cardboard, construction paper and a bottle of Elmer's? At Eyebeam last Saturday, the art and technology center held artist-in-residence-led workshops which, instead of having participants make crap for the holidays, showed them how to make fun, interesting objects out of crap. "Extreme Weather Snow-globes" (led by resident Andrea Polli) were created out of recycled materials (think cellphones, wire and other discarded electronics) combined with glitter and water. Over at "Bend It, Shake it" old battery-run toys were disassembled and participants were taught how to make new creations from them, armed with soldering irons and hot glue guns.

For the long winter nights, Michael Mandiberg's "Bright Bike" workshop provided material and instructions on wrapping bikes in super shiny retro-reflective tape. Despite the cold day, many bikers showed up and joined in on a demonstration ride around Chelsea.

Alongside the workshops, volunteers in elf-like fashion demonstrated a hacking of over 30 Talking Elmos, while a red carpet awaited a performance where all would move in unison. I was out of the bike ride and didn't witness the Elmos' big show, but resident Adrianne Wortzel, responsible for the project, has created a bizarre video of this work over at her website.

The evening was topped off with holiday drinks and snacks--spiked eggnog optional. I opted in, and biked home safely with brilliant blue tubes and stays.